


Mollymauk and the Man in Green

by wtfmaya



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Campaign 2 (Critical Role), Campaign 2 Episode 26 (Critical Role), GOD DAMN IT BRING MY PURPLE SON BACK, Gen, Major Spoilers, completely inspired by a tumblr post, this is my horrible way of coping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-10 06:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15286143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wtfmaya/pseuds/wtfmaya
Summary: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR CRITICAL ROLE CAMPAIGN 2 EPISODE 26I literally woke up at 8am the morning after The Calamity that was episode 26 sawthis postand just fucking wrote the first half of this in a mad dash before I had to go to work, and finished the rest of it just fucking now so im sorry if there are typos and crap I am still an Emotional Wreck and I'm also too tired to properly proofread.Welcome to Coping With Major Character Death Badly, by Maya





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> MAJOR SPOILERS FOR CRITICAL ROLE CAMPAIGN 2 EPISODE 26
> 
> I literally woke up at 8am the morning after The Calamity that was episode 26 saw [this post](http://princessamericachavez.tumblr.com/post/175845511738/molly-meets-the-traveler-in-the-afterlife-the) and just fucking wrote the first half of this in a mad dash before I had to go to work, and finished the rest of it just fucking now so im sorry if there are typos and crap I am still an Emotional Wreck and I'm also too tired to properly proofread.
> 
> Welcome to Coping With Major Character Death Badly, by Maya

According to that Tabaxi in the Gentleman’s bar (whose name Molly had already quite forgotten), Molly had died once before. It made some semblance of sense, of course. When your first real, clear memory is clawing your way out of the earth, one can only assume the reason one was buried in the first place. But Molly had no memory of that death. Despite his best efforts not to think about his _before_ , he had thought about his previous ‘death’ and his awakening beneath the ground an unfortunate amount. He had imagined why, when, how. He had imagined that it had probably hurt quite a bit.

He had never imagined dying would hurt quite this much, however. As that ugly, leather-clad bastard (who sported the _ugliest_ tattoos Molly had ever seen in his two years of life. Tacky. Blocky. No grace or art to them at all. Embarrassing, ugly.) sunk his glaive deep into the center of Molly’s chest, pain and red exploded from the wound like those flowers of fire they had seen in the sky at Hupperdook.

As Molly felt his blood, of which he had always had a peculiar understanding of, pump from his heart straight out of his chest, into the open air, he had enough clarity to realize,

 _This is it_.

In what he knew to be his last moments, he should have felt sad. Bitter, even. To have lived such a short life, to have had only two years of his own. To not have managed to see this world in its entirety, coast to coast and beyond, to not have experienced everything, absolutely everything that this world had to offer. He should have felt sad. But in his last moments, when everything around him had been sharpened into inexplicable, crystal clarity, all he felt was rage.

Rage at this tackily-tattooed human who dared steal not only his life away, but his newfound friends. Dead or not, this fucker was going to pay. And so, taut with rage and defiance, Molly gathered up what air was left in his lungs, and, mingled with the very blood that was catching in his throat choking his last breaths, and _spat_. The last of his lifeblood mixed with spittle and vile and rage, spattered across the face and the shitty tattoos of whatever this ugly fucker’s name was, and Molly died smiling.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The pain was gone. That was the first thing Molly noticed. The second thing he noticed was his blood. It was inside his body! It wasn’t currently flowing freely from a huge wound in his chest, and there was a healthy amount of it circulating within him too, as far as he could tell. That was good. Definitely an improvement from his most recent memory of his blood (gushing from his chest, spat in the face of his murderer, draining from his veins and leaving him empty).

The third thing Molly noticed was that he had absolutely no fucking idea where he was. He opened his eyes and saw pure white. Bright, unblemished, stark white. He blinked for a moment, adjusting. He looked left, he looked right. Nothing but uninterrupted whiteness. He realized he was lying down, and it occurred to him that he should probably get up. Before he had a chance, however, a shadow fell over him. He thought vaguely that this was odd, seeing as how the bright whiteness all around him made it seem like shadows should be impossible, but, here it was.

Molly squinted up at the source of the shadow, but all he really had time to take in was _green_ before he realized that the figure had their hand out, reaching down to him. After a brief moment of consideration that more or less ended with, _eh fuck it_ , Molly reached up and grasped the hand. It pulled, and Molly let it help him to his feet. He staggered a moment, slightly dizzy from the sudden shift, and brushed his coat off before really taking a look at the figure before him.

They were clad in a cloak of deep green. The hood of said cloak shaded the face and its features from view, but Molly thought that he could just make out the glimmer of verdant irises within the hood’s shadow. The figure stood still before him, and said nothing.

Molly considered the figure before him. He considered his current situation. The moments leading up to this moment. Back to the figure before him, with their green cloak and shadowed face. And their hands. Rough and calloused, but strong and firm.

The hands of a man well traveled.

“Oh, _boy_ ,” Molly said softly. The figure spoke, and, although his face was still concealed in shade, Molly could almost _hear_ the smile on his face, curving the words with mirth and laughter.

“So. I’m bullshit, eh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr is [wtfmaya-writes](https://wtfmaya-writes.tumblr.com/) (Feel free to head over there and yell at me!)
> 
> Comments and constructive criticism are welcome! 
> 
> I’m sorry this chapter so short. I have so much more I want to write for this, and I haven’t even gotten to the meat of it that I was so excited to write in the first place, but it’s late and I gotta go to bed and I wanted to get this posted tonight so. This is what I got. 
> 
> I promise to have this finished before next week’s ep, where Matt and Taliesin and the rest of the cast will surely handle whatever happens with far more grace and intrigue than I did with this. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, and look out for the next chapter very soon!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EYYY i actually wrote and posted the next chapter within a reasonable time frame! Who am I!

“So. I’m bullshit, eh?”

“Ahh. Aha. Haha. Here’s the thing. I may be… An idiot? And a bit of an asshole?” Molly found himself grinning, despite every insane part of this situation that would likely wipe the smile off of any normal person’s face. 

The man in green, the Traveler, (Jester’s Traveler, holy fuck) threw back his cloaked head and laughed. It was musical and otherworldly and infectious. It was a real, true laugh of mischief and intrigue and joy. Molly felt his entire body shiver, with fear or excitement, or perhaps both or neither. This being made Molly feel like he was experiencing every emotion possible, all at once, in both a good way and a bad. 

“That, my purple friend, is why I like you. It’s why my Jester likes you, too. You’re fun.”

“Why, thank you,” Molly said, and he meant it. It’s not everyday you get complimented by a god. Or at least, someone who was probably a god. Molly wasn’t one to judge. 

The Traveler glanced at the white expanse around them and gestured vaguely to its nothingness.

“So, are you enjoying yourself here?” Molly gave himself a five count to fucking breathe before answering. 

“Uh, well. That depends. Is this… Your place? Because, if so, I absolutely am. And I love what you’ve done with the place. So clean, spotless, in fact,” 

The Traveler chuckled again, softer this time, but it still commanded the space and silenced whatever ramblings Molly had bubbling in his throat. 

“This is absolutely not my place. I don’t particularly have place of my own, you know. It’s in my name,” The Traveler paused dramatically for a moment, “I travel.” 

Molly would have bet every goddamn coin he had ever earned that, under the shadow of that hood, the Traveler was sporting the biggest shit-eating grin the world had ever seen. Molly felt a grin spread across his face as well. He was really starting to like this guy. 

“In that case, no, I can’t say I’m enjoying myself very much at all. I’ve no fucking clue where I am, or why I’m here, and frankly, all the white is hurting my eyes. Also, I was kind of in the middle of something, and as much as that something really sucked, I’d like to get back to it, and my companions.”

The Traveler nodded slowly, but said nothing. Molly shifted in place a little. He absolutely could not read this guy, and it was really starting to make him nervous. Molly mostly judged people by how they reacted to him, to his skin, his horns, his jewelry and tattoos. But he couldn’t see this hooded man’s face, and even if he could, he doubted it would paint any clearer a picture for him. This person was a god? Probably? And for one of the first times in his life (death?) Molly found himself struggling to bullshit. 

“Um. I’m dead then, right? This is the afterlife?” 

The Traveler chuckled yet again. “Straight to the point, I see. I was under the impression that you employed a tad more finesse.” 

“Normally, sure, but I definitely remember getting stabbed in the chest by some asshole with ugly tattoos, and now I’m standing in blank white wasteland of absolute nothingness, talking to a god that I kind of thought my friend made up - sorry - and said god is asking me if I’m? Enjoying myself? For some reason? So finesse is kind of out the window for me at this point, sorry.” Molly paused for a second, breathing hard. “So am I dead or what?” 

The Traveler gave yet another soft chuckle. He was definitely enjoying this, and in any other circumstance, Molly would have appreciated how little he gave a shit. But saying aloud what had happened to him was causing finally causing realization to set in, and Molly could feel a bubble of panic growing in his chest. 

Alone in some otherworldly place with a maybe-god and no one else, no way of knowing where he was or how to get back, Yasha and the others still on their way to enslavement - holy fuck - 

“You died, yes,” The smooth, casual tone yanked Molly out of his spiral as quickly as he fell into it. The Traveler cocked his head at him. 

“You’re dead, Mollymauk Tealeaf. But the afterlife?No. Not this place. Not yet, for you. I saw to that.” 

“You… What?” Molly swallowed, his throat dry. “There’s a fucking hell of a lot to unpack from that statement, but let’s just. Focus on the last part for me, huh? How did… and why did you… Not let me go to the afterlife?” 

The Traveler hummed softly to himself, considering. 

“Why, huh? That’s a good question. I felt like it, I guess? You were... Available, I guess would be the word, so I saw an opportunity and I took it.” The Traveler shrugged, his deep green cloak shifting smoothly around his person. “Besides, Jester likes you, and I like Jester. So, it was a nice little win-win. I help you, and that makes Jester happy, which I do enjoy-”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute, available? What do you mean, available? How was I available?” The Traveler waved his hand vaguely. 

“Oh, you know. Death for you, my purple friend, is a bit odd. Most likely because of some things that you did that you don’t remember. Don’t worry about it. All you really need to know is that it was easier for me, for one reason or another, to futz with your soul as it passed from life to death.” The Traveler chuckled to himself. 

“I ruffled some feathers in the process, certainly, but thanks to how wonderfully weird you are, I technically didn’t break any rules! So, here we are.”

“I… What? What are you talking about-” The Traveler broke in, waving his hands dismissively. 

“Oh, don’t ask me for details, because I honestly don’t really get it myself, and I don’t think I’d really tell you even if I did, but I’m basically giving you an option that has technically always been there for you, but that you couldn’t quite get to until I stepped in. Poked some things around.” 

“That… That makes no sense. What are you-” The Traveler made a sharp tutting sound and wagged his finger in an almost comical gesture.

“I said not to ask me for details, my dear! I understand about as much as you do!” 

“I really, really don’t think that’s true.” The Traveler giggled. 

“Maybe you’re right. Who’s to say? It doesn’t really matter, though, does it? You’re overthinking it, my friend! Just take the opportunity! Live again! Why question it?” 

He had a fair point. 

“Fuck it, sure. What’re we doing, then? How do I go back to being alive?” 

“I’m not entirely sure. But I’m pretty sure it’s got something to do with him.” The Traveler raised his hand and pointed over Molly’s shoulder. After the moment it took for Molly to realize that he wasn’t pointing at him, but past him, Molly spun round to look. 

There, not five feet away from them, stood a tiefling. 

A naked tiefling. Purple skin, horns curving from their head. No jewelry to speak of, and no tattoos save for two red marks, stark against the lavender skin, one on the hand, and one on the base of the neck.

“Oh, fuck me,” Mollymauk muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and constructive criticism welcome! 
> 
> I'm really wanna finish this fic before next thursday's ep but we'll see how well that goes lmfao
> 
> If you look. Vaguely in the direction of this fic. You will be able to see. That I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm BSing everything so hard lmfao I'm just as confused as Molly is
> 
> Maya! What will happen next, you ask. Great question! I have no idea! I respond, with tears in my eyes (I'll think of something dw) 
> 
> My Tumblr is [wtfmaya-writes](https://wtfmaya-writes.tumblr.com/) feel free to head over there and scream at me (but bare with me as I struggle to figure out its basic functions)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haven't really had the time to proofread yet, so I apologize for any errors, I'll go back and clean em up when I'm more awake.

“Oh, fuck me,” Mollymauk muttered. Meeting someone who’d only _known_ his ‘past self’ had sucked beyond measure. Now he had to meet the motherfucker himself? Spectacular. Of all the things he had dreaded to think of when it came to whatever had transpired before Molly came to be himself, he had never once even _considered_ that he might end up face to face with… _Lucien_. 

 

Speaking of. Molly examined him warily, scanning him up and down. He hadn’t moved. Hadn’t twitched. Molly could barely tell if he was even breathing. He simply stood there, stock still. Hands at his sides, and just  _ staring _ , unblinking. Fucking creepy. It’d been nearly a full minute now, and nothing. Molly glanced sideways at the green cloaked figure standing in his periphery. 

 

“What the fuck is going on?” The Traveler shrugged cheerfully. Great. 

 

“What am I supposed to do with… Him? What’s this got to do with getting back to my friends? I am supposed to, what? Fist fight him? What the fuck?” The Traveler laughed. 

 

“You sure are directing a lot of questions at someone who has no idea what’s going on!” 

 

“How do _you_ not know what’s going on?? Aren’t you a god? Didn’t you bring me here? I thought-” 

 

“You assume far too much, my grape-flavored friend!” 

 

“Grape-flavored?” The Traveler steamrolled on, waving his hand dismissively. 

 

“Being a god doesn’t mean I know everything, and it certainly doesn’t mean that I’m going to  _ tell  _ you everything. This entire situation and circumstance and whatnot is entirely your doing. Or, his doing, I suppose.” 

 

The Traveler nodded towards Lucien’s frozen form. 

 

“We’re only here because of what he did. So, this is up to you to figure out.” 

 

Molly rubbed his face furiously. This was a whole fucking lot to take in. 

 

“So, this is all happening because of something… He did?” Molly pointed at Lucien, who still hadn’t moved. 

 

The Traveler nodded. 

 

“And… You either don’t know or won’t tell me what I need to do to get back to my friends. Except that it likely has something to do with… Him.” 

 

The Traveler nodded again. 

 

“Wonderful. Great. So, I guess I’ll just. Figure it out?”

 

The Traveler whispered the softest chuckle, and said nothing else. 

 

Molly had never been so confused in his life, including the time he had literally woken up, buried in the earth, with exactly no memory of _anything_. What had Lucien done to make this all possible? Why was he here, now, and why the _fuck_ wasn’t moving? Molly glared at Lucien.

 

“The least you could do is say something. Or, you know, move. At all.” Nothing. Not even a blink. Molly swallowed, hard. Every fiber of his being was pulling him the fuck _away_ from this statue with his face. He didn’t want anything to do with him. He didn’t want to be close to him, he didn’t want to touch him, he barely wanted to look at him. 

 

He didn’t have a choice, however. As annoyingly cryptic as he was, the Traveler had a point. If there was any way out of here, it would have something to do with Lucien. And Molly needed to get out of here. The Mighty Nein was still out there, and all of the even  _ slightly  _ reasonable members needed rescuing, leaving the wonderfully dysfunctional fucks to try operate while missing over half the group. 

 

They were idiots, and he was really starting to love them. He couldn’t leave them. He couldn’t.

 

So, Lucien it is. 

 

Molly took one, deep breath, and forced a grin to slide across his face. He took one step forward. 

 

“Lucien, hello! I’ve just realized, we’ve never been properly introduced. My name is Mollymauk Tealeaf.” He took another, small step forward and forced the smile wider. “It’s a pleasure.” 

 

Lucien didn’t move. His face was blank, his eyes unblinking. Molly cleared his throat, and took another step. 

 

“You, uh, wouldn’t happen to know the way out of here, would you? I’ve got some things to take care of that are rather time-sensitive.” 

 

Nothing. 

 

“Oh, come on, then. Help a fellow tiefling out, huh? We’re… kind of the same person, so, you’d technically be helping yourself. What d’you say?” 

 

Nothing. 

 

Molly chewed on his lip, and forced himself to take another step closer. 

 

“Alright, listen. I know that you probably want your… Your body. Back. I understand! It’s just, now really isn’t a great time for you to pop back in there. We’re kind of being fucked over by a bunch of asshole slavers right now so…” 

 

Silence. Not even a twitch. Molly clenched his teeth, forcing his frustration down.

 

“How about this, I go back now, clear up all the shit I’m waist-deep in right now, and then, once that’s all done, we’ll trade places. You get… your body back, no strings attached, and all I ask is that you let me go back and help my friends, and in the process, I’ll basically be setting my. Your body up for your return. It’ll be mutually beneficial.” Molly pushed the grin back across his face, and despite the growing ball of anger and frustration in the center of his chest, he felt it was a winning smile. 

 

Lucien said nothing. Did nothing. Stood as still as a statue, his unblinking eyes almost looking through Mollymauk. 

 

The twisting, burning bubble of frustration in the center of Mollymauk’s chest popped. He took two hard steps closer.

 

“Say. _Something_. You worthless purple _fuck_. You did this to us, the least you can fucking do is get me the _fuck_ out of here. Come on!” 

 

Nothing. Mollymauk could _feel_ his blood boiling. He took another step.

 

“Fuck you! Come on! You think, what, that you have some sort of right to the body because you had it first? You think you can just shut me out? Fuck you! You left it behind! You abandoned it, and _I_ got it, you left it and it’s mine now! My life, my body, my soul, not yours. You don’t to just come back in here and claim it again, that’s not how this fucking works! You left it! You did, you made that choice on your own, and when you left it, I got it.” 

 

Nothing. Molly bared his teeth and stalked forward, closing the rest of the distance. They were nose-to-nose now, barely a centimeter between them. 

 

“Fuck you. It’s not yours. It’s not yours anymore, you left it, and now it’s mine, and you don’t get to just come back in here and claim it! It’s not fucking yours to claim! Now you had better help me get the _fuck_ out of here, and back to my life. _My_ life! The life I was just, _finally_ starting to get to live.” 

 

Molly was breathing hard. Their noses were nearly touching now. And still, not even a twitch. 

 

“Fucking  _ tell me _ !” Molly screamed. He leaned forward slightly, tilting his head down to make direct eye contact with fucking Lucien, that stupid, greedy, motherfu- 

 

Wait. Down?  __

 

Molly took a step back, still breathing hard. Lucien was… shorter than him? How the fuck did that make any sense. They were the same person. What the fuck. 

 

Molly took another step back, and started to turn to ask the Traveler what the fuck was going on, when his eyes traveled down Lucien’s body. Specifically, to his feet. Which were. Not there. Molly froze.

 

“Holy fuck,” he breathed. 

 

Lucien was sinking. He had already sunk up to his ankles into the ground beneath them. 

 

Molly blinked, slowly. His first memory had been waking up beneath the ground, and clawing his way up, and out. He had been born from the earth. And he knew now. That was where he needed to go to be born again. 

 

Molly dropped to his knees and moved to dig into the floor. The moment his hands pushed against the ground, however, it gave way beneath him, suddenly having the consistency of water. 

 

Mollymauk Tealeaf sank into the ground, and vanished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to upload this before fuckin midnight my time but today's Talks Machina ep d e s t r o y e d me. Anyway. 
> 
> One more chapter to go! (plus maybe one short bonus chapter? Maybe)
> 
> Go scream at me on my tumblr, [wtfmaya-writes](https://wtfmaya-writes.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Mollymauk opened his mouth to inhale, expecting the bitter taste of soil. He opened his eyes, expecting to see the suffocating, thick darkness of earth.

 

That is not what happened.

 

Instead, Molly opened his mouth and inhaled the crisp, cold night air. It filled his lungs, clear and clean.

 

He opened his eyes to the moon, smiling down on him. It sat in the glittering darkness of the night sky, a full, round disk of soft light, surrounded by the infinite pinpricks of the stars.

 

He was laying on his back, his hands clasped across his stomach. His body was wrapped in a thick fabric that he realized, after a moment, was his Platinum Dragon tapestry. He chuckled to himself, softly.

 

He laid there a moment longer, listening to the slow, steady breaths that he could only assume belonged to the Mighty Nein.

 

This was going to be a hell of a thing to explain. But really, who cared? He was _alive_. Against all odds and logic, he was alive.

 

In the darkness, Mollymauk Tealeaf smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, this is ending incredibly short and abrupt. I started losing motivation to write this, and rather than torture myself over writing a good-length ending I simply didn't like and leaving it unfinished, I settled on an ending that was simply short and sweet. 
> 
> This entire fic was inspired by [this post](http://princessamericachavez.tumblr.com/post/175845511738/molly-meets-the-traveler-in-the-afterlife-the). 
> 
> Check me out on [my tumblr](https://wtfmaya-writes.tumblr.com/), if you'd like! 
> 
> Comments are welcome, and so appreciated. 
> 
> Whatever happens on Thursday, Mollymauk Tealeaf was, and is, an incredible character. I feel like I didn't really do him the justice I wanted to, or the justice he deserves with this fic, but I'm going to keep trying, keep writing, and hopefully improve. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed. 
> 
> Is it Thursday yet?

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is [wtfmaya-writes](https://wtfmaya-writes.tumblr.com/) (feel free to head over and yell at me!)
> 
> Comments are always welcome and so appreciated! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
